Voltron Legendary Defender: The Silver Sixth
by ShortAndSnarky
Summary: The time has come for Voltron to return from legend. After eons of biding her time, Amber helps Shiro escape captivity to start looking for the lions. Only, she didn't anticipate having to train new Paladins. Gradually, the team comes together, but Amber fears it will fall apart if she reveals her past...and her lineage. Please review! Enjoy!
1. The Escapees

_DISCLAIMER: I have taken scenes and dialogue from Voltron: Legendary Defender and added in dialogue from my OC. Some of it purely from my imagination; some is from the show. I do not own scenes or dialogue from the show. Credit for that goes to the producers, actors, screenwriters, and anyone else involved in the making of Voltron._

**Hello again! I know I've published two stories back-to-back, but I've been working on this one for such a long time I really wanted to share it. It's an OC I've dreamed up in the aftermath of Season 8 (I still refuse to acknowledge the major case of feels I've come down with). I went back to the first episode and slowly started to fit Amber into the crazy world that is Voltron. Hope you enjoy, and please leave comments!**

**This is Chapter 1… if all goes well, I'll be publishing Chapter 2 sometime next week!**

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_The Escapees_

The green and blue Earth barrels toward me. I've longed to return, but I never imagined it would be under these circumstances. I'd dreamed it'd be a peaceful homecoming, getting to see the crystal blue oceans and cottony white clouds with a sense of relief and tranquility. But as always, my aspirations are destroyed by my mission. Suddenly, I want to abandon my plan. Just land on Earth and never think or speak of the mission again. _It's not about you, _I remind myself. _You sacrifice everything so other people can live normal lives, and so the ones that can't will soon be able to. _This is the way it will always be. Honing back in on the escape pod racing in front of me, I feel the controls starting to fight my will. I thrust both handles as far towards the stern of the ship as I can. I'm still weak from the exertion of breaking out of the prison ship. Hopefully, they'll assume I'm chasing after the escape pod to catch it and return to base before they realize I'm never coming back. I see flames billowing up on the sides and bottom of the ship's screen, letting me know I'm entering Earth's atmosphere. I can't stay in my vessel much longer, so I flip the switch to autopilot, trusting it will be enough for me to get to the surface unscathed. The witch designed my ship and installed "safeguards" to wound or neutralize me in case I try to defect. The _Avenger _and I have a strong connection from decades of fighting together, which may allow me to hold out against the witch's safeguards long enough to live. I race to the bow and find the panel in the ceiling I hollowed out. I punch through it and shards of metal and plastic come crashing down, revealing what looks like a long, sleek stick of black metal. I pull it down and flip it over. Grabbing the leather strap that's attached to both ends of the slab, I sling it onto my back and trudge to the pilot's chair. The _Avenger_s almost to the ground and the pod is a few yards ahead. I engage the cloaking device and pull off the pod. I can barely control the _Avenger,_ since it has sensed my intentions and engaged the safeguards. Battling the _Avenger_'s will the whole way, I land my ship a distance away from the downed escape pod. As I move to leave, I draw out my knives, knowing the ship will lock all exits to keep me in. I cut a rectangle in the door and kick it, knowing the hard steel is no match for my luxite blades. Something tingles in the back of my skull as I step on the ground. I look up to see the sky I've yearned for every day since I was away, black cloth with diamonds strung in it. Dark and peaceful, belying the death and destruction that will soon rain down from it. Quickly, I place my metal bar on the ground. I steady myself, placing a hand on the slab. I hear Ulaz's voice. _Imagine what you want it to be._ I concentrate and feel the metal pulse and shift underneath my hand. My eyes open and I see the speeder that formed, a sleek jet black with streaks, streaks that look like someone with purple blood smeared it along the sides. Scanning the land, I see the crashed pod and what I remember to be Earthling inventions called _cars _speeding towards it. I won't reach the pod before they do. I step onto my speeder and go to move it forward when I notice a strange black mound beneath me. I bend close enough to the ground to confirm what I suspected. Thermal detonators. Adrenaline shoots through my body, but luckily they aren't armed. Yet. Likely, they are connected to a handheld detonator that could activate at any second. I want to flee, but then I realize I can use them in a more constructive way. For me, at least. I pluck a few from the ground and stick them on my ship. When they go off, the _Avenger _will explode and hopefully the Galra will assume I went down with my ship. I climb back onto my speeder and ride it to an overhang in the cliffs that are abundant in this region, ready to formulate a new plan to find my oldest friends- my family- and eliminate anyone who gets in my way. I smile, my training kicking in.

Collection and extraction.

Leave no survivors.


	2. From the Ground Up

_DISCLAIMER: I have taken scenes and dialogue from Voltron: Legendary Defender and added in dialogue from my OC. Some of it purely from my imagination; some is from the show. I do not own scenes or dialogue from the show. Credit for that goes to the producers, actors, screenwriters, and anyone else involved in the making of Voltron._

**Welcome back! Sorry for the wait, but I finally finished Chapter 2, which is definitely more closely aligned with dialogue/events from the show. Hopefully I'll have Chapter 3 out by the end of the week. Enjoy and please comment! **

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_From the Ground Up_

I snap to attention as red and yellow explode across the night sky. The bombs have been detonated and my window to get in the pod is closing. In a flash, I'm on my speeder and rocketing towards the escape pod. I creep up beside another speeder, but it has a home built and altered look rather than the uniformed build of military transportation. Odd, but there are more important matters to attend to.

Jumping off, I unsheathe my blades, ready to take out guards at the door. But they already lie on the ground, doors wide open. Faster, faster, I run down the hall, terrified of who could have known the pod crashed here, of who could know what was inside. I reach the deck of the pod, where it seems the Earthlings had set up to experiment. I see him, strapped to a table, unconscious, and for a brief moment, all I feel is relief. Then I notice the boy bending over him.

He draws back, noticing me. Before he can call out, my fist connects to his jaw and he flies backward and slumps against the wall. Hopefully, that will give me enough time to take Shiro and get out. I bend over the sleeping face of the one person I've trusted in over ten centuries. Without warning, the darkness hits me like a brick, and I grab his hand, anchoring me down, giving me strength, the one ally I've got in this impossible fight. I imagine everything good in Shiro, all his light, running from his hand to mine and spreading throughout my body, and slowly the darkness retreats. I've beat it back for now.

I pick up my knife to begin cutting his arms free of the table he's been strapped to when I'm body slammed. I skid back a few feet as I assume a crouched position, hand clutching my blade. I pick my head up and launch myself at my attacker, who was obviously not anticipating my skill. I tackle him and pin him to the ground. Locking my knees around his body, I rip off the mask he wears on the bottom half of his face. He has wide, dark almond-shaped eyes and long black hair that starts at the base of his neck and ends in bangs on his forehead. While he struggles to break my grip, he doesn't attempt any basic maneuvers even a Galra child would know. He's a rebel, a pariah, a loner. This is no trained assassin. Just as I reach this conclusion, a voice behind me teases,

"Keith's got a _girlfriend_." Without taking my gaze off _Keith_, I remove my other knife from its scabbard around my hips and throw it over my shoulder in the direction of the voice. An indignant "_Hey_!" lets me know I've hit my mark. I reach out with my mind to try to sense their intentions. I feel no anger, no threatening emotions. Since they seem to know and tease Keith, who is not a threat, I don't think they are either, but it can't hurt to err on the side of caution. I rest my remaining knife across my forearm and level it against Keith's neck, pressing into his trachea.

"Why have you come here? What do you want?" I demand to know. He looks up at me, almond eyes hard. Grudgingly, I feel some respect for him, remaining calm and brave in unknown territory.

"I came to get Shiro." I press harder, intensely curious. Father always said it would get me killed one day.

"How do you know Shiro?" He drops his eyes and swallows hard.

"He was my mentor before he went on the Kerberos mission." _Kerberos. _We found Shiro and two other Earthlings there a few years ago. All three were taken prisoner.

"Hate to break it to you guys, but if we don't get out of here soon, the Garrison's going to catch us, and then no one will be free!" comes a slightly whiny voice from behind me. I turn my head a few inches toward the voice, not totally taking my attention off Keith. The moment I do, he will unseat me. I see a dark-skinned boy in jeans and a ski jacket, hood pinned to the wall by my knife. A large boy with a round face with an orange bandanna in his hair, wearing a yellow jacket. Beside him stands a short girl with khaki shorts, a green shirt, glasses, and a backpack securely nestled on both shoulders. I look back at Keith, evaluating my options. With their help, I can get to a safe place and clear my head before I leave to continue my mission. But I sense if I join them, I will never leave them.

I stand and allow Keith to rise. I turn to the boy in the ski jacket. I raise my arm and flick my hand towards me, and my blade removes itself from the wall and jacket and returns to my outstretched palm. I incline my head towards the boy I had pinned to the wall.

"Sorry, but I didn't know if you were a threat that needed to be neutralized." He grins at me and says,

"Nah, I don't take it personally when a pretty girl tries to pin me down." He winks at me. "The name's Lance." I'm confused. Why would anybody be friendly to a stranger, let alone a stranger who pinned them to a wall with a knife? Humans are weirder than I imagined.

"Anyway, I'm rescuing Shiro, not Keith. He's always trying to one-up me!" I look back at Keith, who's staring at Lance blankly. Lance, a bit hurt, says, "Remember, at the Garrison? Keith and Lance, neck and neck?" Recognition blooms on Keith's face.

"Oh, I remember you," he says with a bit of contempt. "You're that cargo pilot."

"Well, I'm fighter class now thanks to you washing out." That seems to hit a nerve with Keith, so he says to me,

"He needs to be neutralized-but he's not a threat," to hide his hurt.

"Hey!" whines Lance. "You need to be neutralized!" Tired of their squabbling, I cut the straps around Shiro's arms and legs and place him on my back. I stand up, taking his full weight on my back. Luckily, my training forced me to carry loads much heavier than him. I turn back to Keith and Lance, who stare at me open-mouthed. I guess normal Earthlings are weaker than the Galra. I lead them out the doors and load Shiro onto the back of my speeder.

"Whoa! Cool ride!" says the yellow one.

"It's so much more technologically advanced than anything we have at the Garrison. How did you get it? Did you build it?" asks the small girl.

"I'm sorry, but we don't have time to answer questions. Keith, you take Lance and the big man on your speeder. The green one and I will take Shiro. You," I say, gesturing to the small girl, "Hold Shiro up and make sure he doesn't fall off." I see the Garrison cars coming back, and they're getting close. "Let's move!" Without further comment, I hop in my speeder as the green one scrambles in and grips Shiro tightly. Keith takes off, and I follow close behind. A few of the Garrison cars leave the pack to chase us down. I follow Keith, urging my vessel forward faster. Two are hot on his tail, and one trails behind me. I speed up past Keith, drawing the one that was tailing me forward, then take a sharp right and force it into the car next to it, feeling a sense of exhilaration before I return to the task at hand. I notice we're approaching a large drop off from one cliff to another. I drop back to Keith's side, and we lock eyes for a few seconds.

Understanding what he wants to do, I push the levers that control the acceleration of the speeder as far forward as they go, and Keith does the same. I whip my head around, shouting at the girl behind me. "Hold on tight!" I yell over the roaring wind. The cliffs vanish beneath us, and for a moment we hang in the air.

Then gravity takes back over and we plummet along the cliff side. We are soaring, flying, and I want to throw back my head and roar at the moon like a lion. I glance back over my shoulder and see the Garrison car has stopped at the edge. I fight the urge to destroy it, eliminate them for daring to follow me, but I beat back the darkness and follow Keith's speeder into the dawn of a new day.


End file.
